Lee: This is a legal case. It is also a business case. The government has no authority to stick its fingers into this case. We have to wait for the courts to decide, but it doesn't matter if it's a business or not.
According to the Copyright Law (
TT: Don't you think that suing existing or potential customers is counterproductive?
Lee: I don't think so. Piracy should not exist in either the physical or the Internet market. Should consumers get music without paying? No. The consumer needs to be educated. We are protecting not just the copyright owners' rights, we're also protecting consumers' rights. If consumers pay a little money to buy pirated products, we cannot protect them.
TT: With piracy hurting the music industry so much, are there fewer artists willing to record new music?
Lee: It's already happening. The number of new releases and new artists has dropped dramatically. They are changing their careers.
In 1999, there were 248 new albums released and 29 new artists, but last year there were only 142 new albums and 17 new artists. If labels lose money in the physical and Internet market, no-one can expect them to invest more in new local talent.
Taiwan has lost its market. It used to be the second largest market in Asia [just four years ago], now it's fourth largest after Japan, [South] Korea and India. It's not just the record industry. There are no more local motion pictures. Who knows how many years we have to wait before there is no more local music industry?
The Internet is a new format for commercial release, but we have to protect it.
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